66 Mrs. Tackett, the Captive. Lady-like thine my visions cling Those still, those soft, those silent eyes, When by our favorite stream we stood, VOL. II. HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS MRS. TACKETT, THE CAPTIVE. The sufferings endured by the first emigrants to a new country, scarcely admit of description. These have always been greatly multiplied by an encroachment upon the rights and possessions of the aborigines. In reference to this country, where we have long been considered unwelcome intruders, this has been peculiarly the case. The settlement of no part of the world has been more fruitful of incident than that of our own. Although many pens have been employed from time to time, in detailing our wars with the Indians, still many interesting occurrences have escaped the historian's notice. Some Those scenes yet live. Our hopes went by of these have appeared in the form of newsLike sounds upon the unbroken sea, Yet memory wins the spirit back Our hopes are flown-yet parted hours Of summer's' deep and brilliant sky Lady, adieu!-To other climes I go for joy, and hope, and thee, And still to love's remembered eves, The coming years-their shadows sweep A mingled cup of fire and blood!- Lady, adieu !-my farewell words Broken and tuneless. Be it so! paper paragraphs, while others of equal importance have escaped this ephemeral kind of repository. ness. The writer of this article has several times traveled the road which lies on the bank of the Kennawa. Although he found mountains whose tops pierced the clouds, and a beautiful river whose margins smoked with salt furnaces to amuse him by day, his entertainment was not diminished by the approach of darkHe has usually sought lodging with some of the most ancient inhabitants, many of whom accommodate their guests with great hospitality. Like the early adventurers to new settlements, they are social, and delight in the recital of their dangerous enterprise and hair-breadth escapes. Mr. M., at whose comfortable mansion it was the writer's good fortune to tarry one night, the last time he passed through Western Virginia, gave him the following narrative. Just below the mouth of Cole river, on the farm owned by the heirs of Tays, to ensure safety the early settlers constructed a fortress. It was formed exclusively of timber, without much labor, yet in such a manner as to be deemed adequate to their defence against Indian aggression. On the apprehension of danger, the gate was closed, and every one prepared for resistance. When the demand for food became imperious, a few of the most skilful hunters would leave this retreat before day, go a few miles distant, and return the succeeding night, loaded with game, unnoticed by the skulking savage. These measures of safety were considered indispensable. A few weeks of repose, however, seemed to render them inconvenient and unnecessary. Exemption from a morning attack was thought a sufficient pledge of peace through the day. Familiarity with danger, as it always does, relaxed their vigilance and diminshed their precaution. Even the women and children, who at first had been frighten No. 3. Mrs. Tackett, the Captive. ed by the falling of a tree, or the hooting of an owl, lost their timidity. Indeed, the strife seemed to be who should be boldest, and the least apprehensive of peril. 67 the prisoners must be divided; that sometimes quarrels ensued on such occasions, and the captives were put to death. He asked her if she could write. An affirmative anOn a beautiful morning in the month of swer seemed to please him much. He said June, in the year 1778, as well as is recol- he would take her to his own country in the lected, the gate was thrown open. Confine-South, to be his wife and to keep his accounts, ment had become painful, nay, insupportable. as he was a trader. This Indian was a CherIt was considered rather as a voluntary pun-okee, and named Chickahoula; aged about ishment than a condition of security. Three 35, and of good appearance. of the fearless inhabitants set out on a hunt- He soon took the first step necessary for ing expedition. Some sought amusement in carrying his designs into execution, by makshooting at a mark; the young men engaged ing a diversion to the left. After traveling in playing ball, while the women and child-about two miles, the darkness of the night ren were delighted spectators of the recreation. Scarcely had an hour elapsed in these cheerful relaxations, before some twenty or thirty Indians suddenly ascended the river bank which had concealed their approach, fired upon the whites, and instantly took possession of the fort. Amidst the consternation which ensued, the savages put to death every white man on whom they could lay hands,|| reserving the women and children for more trying occasions. and abruptness of the country forbade their advancing any farther. A small fire was made to defend them against the gnats and musquitoes. After eating a little jerk, Chickahoula told his captive to sleep; that he would watch lest they should be overtaken by pursuers. Early in the morning he directed his course toward the head of the great Sandy and Kentucky rivers. Until he crossed Guyandotte, Chickahoula was constantly on the look out, as if he deemed himself exThe wounded, who were unable to travel, posed to the most imminent danger. After without regard to age or sex, were butchered having traveled seven days, the warrior and in the most shocking manner, of which de- the captive reached Powell's Valley, in Tenscription was James Tackett. The importu- nessee. By this time they were out of pronities and tears of his interesting wife were visions; and the Indian thinking it safer wholly unavailing. She was left with two fine while passing through a settled district to boys, the one seven years old and the other steal food than to depend upon his gun, defive. Apprehensive of pursuit by the whites,||termined to avail himself of the first opportuthe Indians, after the destruction of every ar- nity of supplying himself in this manner. It ticle which they could not remove, betook was but a little while till one presented itself. themselves to flight. When a prisoner be- Following the wanderings of a small rivulet, came too feeble, as was the case with several he came suddenly upon a spring-house or daismall children, all entreaties to avert the ry. This was several rods from the dwelling stroke of the tomahawk were fruitless. Al-house of the owner, and so situated that it though Mrs. Tackett afforded to her children all the aid which their situation and maternal tenderness could dictate, at the distance of about five miles the youngest became exhausted. Her extreme anxiety for his safety induced her to take him on her back; but alas, this act of kindness was but the signal for his dispatch! Two hours afterward her only child began to fail. He grasped his mother's hand, and said, "I must keep up with you, or I'll be killed as poor James was." The exertions which she made for her child were beyond what she could sustain. For a time she inspired him with the hope of relief which the Mrs. Tackett tarried some time with her ensuing night would bring. Nature, how-new acquaintances, and spent several months ever, became overpowered, and a single blow in the different settlements of that section of sunk him to rest. The distracted parent the West. An opportunity then offering, she would cheerfully have submitted to the same returned to Greenbriar. Her feelings on refate, but even this barbarous relief was de- joining her friends and listening to the acnied her. About dark she lagged behind, re- counts of the massacre at the station-and gardless of consequences, in charge of a war- those of her relatives on again beholding one rior who could speak a little English. He whom they considered if not dead, in hopeless informed her that in the course of an hour captivity, may be imagined-pen cannot dethey would reach a large encampment, where||scribe them.—Ohio Hesperian. could be approached unseen from thence.Well satisfied that it contained a rich store of milk, and thinking it probable that other provision was likewise deposited there, the warrior stationed his captive in a position to watch, while he went in to rifle the springhouse. Mrs. Tackett readily and willingly undertook the duty of acting as sentinel; but no sooner was the Indian fairly within the spring-house than she stole up the slope and then bounded toward the dwelling. This reached, she instantly gave the alarm; but the Indian escaped. New Haven, Con. J. C. P BIRD OF MY HEART. BY PARK BENJAMIN. Bird of my heart-come, sing to me 69 The inhabitants, many of whom were hos-pedition, Antioch was the first place which tile to their king, Demetrieus, to the number fell into the hands of the christians, (1098)-of 120,000 invested his palace, on the occa- and it continued the main centre of their powsion of the issuing of an order for the immedi-er, till 1269, when it was taken by Bibars, ate delivery of their arms, upon which the sultan of Egypt. All the fury of Mahometan Jews, hastening to the relief of the king, fell bigotry was then let loose upon a city long furiously upon the rebels, and after destroying supposed a main bulwark of the christian more than 100,000, fired the city. On the power. Its churches, accounted the finest fall of the Syrian empire, Antioch passed in the world, were razed to the ground, and under the Roman yoke. About the year 115, the site of those edifices, once the boast of in the reign of the emperor Trajan, it was en- Asia, can now with difficulty be traced.tirely ruined by one of the most terrible The environs of Antioch have been particuearthquakes mentioned in history. Trajan, larly famed for their luxuriant and romantic who was an eye witness of this overwhelm-aspect. Indeed, the banks of the lower ing calamity, narrowly escaped destruction, Orontes, for a considerable distance, are said and contributed largely towards its re-estab- to equal any thing in the world in point of lishment in its ancient splendor. In 155 it picturesque beauty. Mount Casius, the terwas almost entirely destroyed by an accident-mination of Lebanon, towers above it to a al fire, when it was restored by Antonius lofty height, and the inferior mountain ranges Pius. run along the river, presenting broken preciFrom 242 to 458 its unhappy inhabitants pices, rocks, and caves, overhung with a prowere doomed to almost every species of suf- fuse variety of luxuriant foliage-myrtle, laufering and indignity. Thrice taken and plun-||rel, fig, arbutes and sycamore. dered by hostile armies; visited repeatedly by famine,* depopulated by the plague, distracted by internal factions, the miserable victims of a governor, rapacious and cruel as a Nero, who, for supposed offences and for complaining of a tax levied in a time of sore famine, exposed some to wild beasts in the theatre, and doomed others to the stake. Many abandoned their homes, and with their wives and families, in the greatest terror, and confusion, sought refuge in the neighboring mountains. Some gaining courage returned. It was on this occasion that the celebrated St. Chrysostom, preached his famous homilies which have reached our times; they are said to have had considerable effect in reforming the lives of the people. On the 14th Sept., 458, Antioch was almost entirely ruined by an earthquake. It experienced a like misfortune in 525, and fifteen years after, being taken by Coshroes, king of Persia, it was given up to his soldiers, who devoted all the inhabitants they met with, to the sword. Notwithstanding these overwhelming calamities, it rose from its ruins and soon recovered its wonted splendor. But in a short time it underwent its usual fate, being visited So droops to sleep the captive rose! by an earthquake in 587, by which 30,000 Come, sing-and to my soul entice persons lost their lives. In 634 it fell into A pictured dream of paradise! the hands of the Saracens, who kept posses- For in that dream I shall not see sion of it till the year 858, when it was sur-A Houri, angel, saint like thee! prized by one Burtzas, and again annexed to the Roman empire. The Romans continued Bird of my heart-come, sing to me The masters of it for some time, till the civil disit thrills my heart to hear; song sentions in the empire gave the Turks an opAnd as thou sing'st, I'll fancy thee portunity of seizing upon it as well as the The spirit of some starry sphere. whole of Syria. In the great crusading exFor music poets call divine, And once she made her secret thine, And, touching her melodious shell, Hung on thy lips her magic spell! *The famine was so grievous that a bushel of wheat was sold for 400 pieces of silver. A nest of summer's sweetest flowers; I've strayed since last thy notes I heard, I've listened to the evening bird: Bird of my heart-thy lightest tone Lulls all my senses to repose; 70 Scene in the Life of Joanna of Sicily. SCENE IN THE LIFE OF JOANNA THE EXECUTION. "And now-my woman heart is steeled- To whom the battle yell is breath, It was already night-though the summits of the distant Appenines yet glowed with crimson rays, which, gradually passing to the higher peaks, at length were lost in the surrounding gloom. The moon was rising behind Vesuvius, and poured, at intervals, a partial light on the waters of the Bay; while the soft breeze, fresh from its wanderings amid the foliage of the orange grove and the aloe, mingled its murmuring with the evening song of the laborer, as he wended his way homeward, or the hymn of the fisherman || on the seashore, in gratitude to his patron saint for a night so propitious to his favorite occupation. VOL. II. seemed as if Time, which had blighted the beauty of early years, had only strengthened and hardened the fabric he strove to destroy. The firmness of a spirit, more than masculine in its courage, had sufficed to resist the inroads of the enemy, thus compelled to exhaust his efforts upon the outworks of the apparently impregnable citadel. So we have seen some aged oak, with foliage long ago scattered by the wild winds of autumn, or buried in the snows of winter, still defying in its pride the power of the blast, that swept harmlessly over its withered head, to bow down many a stately scion of the forest! Those striking features were now overspread with a deep shade of sadness; it might be from too vivid recollections of recent scenes; it might be from an undefined presentiment of what the future had in store. Philippa, the Catanese-for it was no other-reclined on a couch, the back of which, shaped like a winged dragon of gold, supported the arm on which her head was dropped. Her robe was of black velvet, with large silken sleeves; the flowing trains that were the fashion of the day, well became the majestic height of her person. A large and sumptuously decorated apartment in Castle Novo, the royal abode of Naples, contained two inmates at the hour we The other female, young and beautiful, mention. Through the open casements that || formed the most perfect contrast imaginable, overlooked the sea, streamed the moon's rays, to her companion. Her figure was light and but they were half overpowered by the bril- fragile, with that peculiar pliancy which liance of a silver lamp that stood on a table marks youth and delicacy of nurture, the in the centre of the room. The apartment || more interesting from the aspect of dependgave evidence, in the tastefulness of its orna- ence-ever claiming aid from others, as conments, of female occupation; a drapery of scious of weakness in itself. She bore a robe crimson damask, broidered with silver flow-of blue, bordered with cloth of silver, and a ers, and adorned with various devices, hung tight vesture of velvet; her rich abundance around the walls; and a lute, covered with a of dark curls, partially confined by a ribbon, delicate net of gold and mother of pearl, was fell over a neck of alabaster. If her features fastened by a green ribbon to a writing-table || displayed not the dignity of her companion, of polished wood, rich with marquetry, on a confiding gentleness a tender sweetness, which were carelessly thrown books richly were visible in their expression-a mildness, bound and clasped with gold, and a parch-beautiful as that which shines in the most ment covered with musical notes. All was charming pictures of Leonard da Vinci, quiet, save the incessant surging of the waves where maiden modesty renders more exquiagainst the old walls, or now and then a mur-site the portraiture of feeling or of thought. mur of distant voices, or a burst of laughter She was kneeling beside her aged relafrom the lower chambers, where soldiers and tive; one arm carelessly rested on her pages were carousing over their evening re-shoulder, the other hand pointed to an open past. scroll that lay on Philippa's lap. Her acThe chamber, as we observed, was tenant-cents were those of remonstrance and ened by two females, but of very different appearance. One of them in age approached the verge of human life; but, though deep lines in her speaking countenance betokened the years with their wonted burden of sor- Since the mysterious murder of Joanna's row that had passed over her, there was husband-Andrew of Hungary-at Aversa, nothing in her form, yet stately, though worn ||and the failure of government agents to deto almost superhuman leanness by the work-tect the perpetrators of the deed, suspicion ings of the restless spirit within-or in her had been artfully excited against those more eyes, dark, wild, and often terrible in their immediately about the person of the queen. strange lustre to mark the decrepitude that || Information of the peril in which she stood, generally accompanies extreme old age. It and the probability that she would herself be treaty; she was imploring the Catanese to fly from dangers vaguely hinted at in the warning despatch before them, which the kindness of a friendly noble had sent. |